Workers at 21 Club Sue Over Wages

This March 17, 2009 article posted on The New York Times' blog details the legal woes of New York's esteemed 21 Club, which is being sued for serious Wage and Hour violations. This 52nd Street restaurant has long served as a meeting place for New York's most powerful and well healed; it has widely been regarded as one of the top eateries on the East Coast. However, according to allegations filed by Joseph, Herzfeld, Hester & Kirschenbaum LLP's own Maimon Kirschenbaum in District Court, the 21 Club's employees have been systematically deprived of gratuity monies owed for decades.

Due to statutory limitations, 21 Club employees can only sue for gratuities lost over the past six years. But -- with dozens of employees joining in on the class action -- the money amount contested could still reach well over a million dollars. The suit in particular alleges that servers did not receive full payment for gratuity earned while working special banquets. Customers would tip 21.75%, but the waitstaff would only receive 18% -- the other 3.75% was illegally withheld.

When compared to some other recently-exposed Wage and Hour violations in the restaurant industry, this practice may not seem so terrible -- at least, not at first. But consider that this small but systemic violation likely (according to the allegations) resulted in depriving hardworking service workers of nearly a million dollars.